Special dispensing package



H. J. SINCLAIR 2,886,208

SPECIAL DISPENSING PACKAGE May 12, 1959 Filed May 21, 1956 IN V EN TOR.

2,886,208 Patented May 12, 1959 r 2,886,208 SPECIAL DISPENSING PACKAGEHugh J. Sinclair, "New ,York, N.Y.,'nssignor of one-half to CharlesMorgan Hussey, .Bronxville, .N.Y.

Application May 21, 1956,Serial No. 586,101

I 1 Claim. ((11.221-288) This invention relates to. a special dispensingpackage for pills and other similar "objects and aims 'to provide easy,inexpensive and sanitary dispensing of .pills or objects one at a timefrom such a package.

Prior to the present invention there has not been any package providingdispensing f pills :one at .a time which Generally accepted standards ofthe drug industry require that a pill container should have a primaryclosure, at least until purchase by the consumer, and that .the primaryclosure be one that may be readily used by the consumer throughout thelife of the container and pills. In the drug industry the primaryclosure is best known as th'e usu'al metal cap and liner covering themouth-io'f the usual pill bottle in the well-known manner.

Although the dispenser described in applicantls earlier application,Serial No. 558,691, has advantageous closure aspects, that dispenserdoes not, by itselfimeet the drug industry requirement for a primaryclosure for a pill container. And the use of the seal there describedfor sealing the openings in said dispenser and its connection with thecontainer does not make that dispeuser'such'a primary closure. While itisftrue that a container using said earlier dispenser could be adaptedto use -.a primary closure cap to cover the dispenser, such a capprobably would be dispensed with by the consumer after purchase,

where, in the case of the preferred container having a primary closurecap, its outlet hole is covered by said cap.

', Thehousing of the dispenser in .addition'to providing a trap chamberhaving staggered inlet and outlet holes I at opposite ends preferablyprovides a feed passage to has permitted ready application of a primaryclosure.

as its use would detract from the convenience of applicants earlierdispenser.

Furthermore, although applican'ts earlier dispenser is itselfinexpensive rand easy to mass :produce and apply to pill containers,nevertheless, in a field as competitive as the drug business evenfractions of cents may become significant and in someapplicatious'applicants :earlier dispenser might still be too expensive.

Also, the spring strip preferably employed in app'licants earlierdispenser might have the capability of said inlet hole. The trap chamberand the staggered inlet and outlet holes form a two-cornered zigzagpassage through the housing. Standing across the passage opposite theinlet hole in the trap chamber is a barrier. The barrier is ofsufficient height so that it will prevent an object which passes throughthe inet hole from passing out of the chamber without movement of thebarrier. The chamber is preferably dimensioned so that at most theentire body of only one object may lie between the barrier and the inlethole.

In order to dispense pills one at a time from my new package, theprimary closure cap is removed and the container is inverted at aninclined angle with the barrier downrnost. The container is then movedin a manner to cause the barrier to move downward relative to the firstobject. This operation results in dispensing of the first pill by meansof gravity, and it may be repeated as often as is necessary to dispensethe proper number of pills. It should be noticed that the pills need notbe touched by human hands; and no more pills need be dispensed than areactually needed so that the hygienic security of the contents of thecontainer may be readily preserved. 1 Applicants new dispenser may bemade in one piece, for example'by molding it in a plastic which ischemically non-reactive with the pills. -Thus, it is so easy tomanufacture that the cost of quantity manufacture would be little morethan the cost of the material necessary to make it. Furthermore, it canbe easily inserted in existing pill bottles in the course of bottling ofthe pills without expensive special equipment.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of my inyention may be had byreferring to the following description .and claim taken in conjunctionwith the drawings in which:

'Fig. l is an elevation section view of a preferred enibodirnent of myspecial package containing my dis 'penser, said section being taken-on aline1--1;of Fig. '2; 'Fig. '2 is a plan section view of my specialpackage containing my dispenser, said section being taken on linereacting chemically with some drugs, and :although the possibility ofany con'tac'cwhich might make this a significant factor is minimal,nevertheless it is preferable to avoid the use in a dispenser of anymaterial which may react chemically with the drug to 'be dispensed.

Applicant has overcomefthese limitations by providing a specialdispensing package, capable of utilizing a :primary closure and ofproviding easy and inexpensive dispensing -'of pills or 'other similarobjects one at a time. The package includesacontainer for the'pills orobjects Fig.3 is a section on line 35-3 of Fig. 1; 1 Fig. 4 is a sectionon line 44 of Fig. .1;

,Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on line 1-1 of Fig. 2 showing thecontainer inverted and at an angle perrnitting the pills to flow throughthe inlet -hole of the dispenser into the chamber;

Fig. 6 is an elevation section view of another embodiment of mydispenser inserted in the neck of a container, said section being online 6-6 of'Fig.',7

which is preferably 'of a type having a primary closure,

'havingstaggerdinlt and outlet holes at opposite ends.

It is prferablylocated in the mouth of the container Fig. '7 is a -planview of the embodiment of my dis.- p'enserinserted in the neck of acontainer which is shown in section in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a section taken on line 8-8 of Fig.6; and 7 Fig. 9'is:asection taken on line 6--6 ofFig.7 showing the .containeriuverted at anangle permitting the pills to how through the "inlet 'hole of thedispenserintothe chamber.

Fig. :1 shows pills A enclosed in a container 'B, in this case a ,pillbottle of a Well-known type having .a metal cap C with the usual linerD. When the cap C is screwed on 'to the container B in a mannerwhich iswell known, the mouth of the containeriis securely covered by the linerD as 'the result of the ,P TS SuI'e of the cap C which is maintained inposition by its frictional connection with the container in a mannerwhich is well known. This is an example of a container with a primaryclosure cap. At the mouth of the container B is a dispenser E which inthis case is so located in the neck thereof that it is completely insidethe closure of the mouth of the container formed by the liner D.Dispenser E is preferably formed in one piece of material which will notreact chemically with pills A.

As shown in Figs. 1-5 a preferred embodiment of my dispenser E comprisesa housing 1 having an upper portion 2 and a lower portion 3. The upperportion 2 is shaped to form a chamber 4 between its top part 5 and lowerportion 3. The walls of the chamber are respectively its top end 5a, itsbottom end 3a and its sides 2a and 2b and a middle wall 2c and the neckB' of the container B. An outlet hole 6 from said chamber is provided intop part 5. At the junction of the lower portion 3 and the upper portion2 these portions are shaped to form with neck B of container B an inlethole 7 to said chamber. Lower portion 3 is shaped to provide a feedportion 8 forming with neck B of container B. a feed passage 9 to saidinlet hole. Feed passage 9 is preferably of a shape to feed pills one ata time to inlet hole 7, for example a cone-like shape.

The normal operating position for the dispenser E is one in which thecontainer B is inverted and inclined, for example, as shown in Fig. 5.The relationship of the various parts of the dispenser for properoperation can best be described with reference to this position. It canbe seen from Fig. 5 that in this position the lower border of outlethole 6 formed by inner edge 5a of top end 5a is ofiset vertically fromthe lower border of inlet hole 7 formed by neck B of bottle B so thattop end 5a forms a barrier to pills A passing into chamber 4 throughinlet hole 7. As so related, the staggered inlet and outlet holes 6 and7 and trap chamber 4 form a two-cornered zigzag-shaped passage throughwhich pills A may pass, the first corner being that formed by the edge 3of lower portion 3 bordering inlet hole 7, and the second corner beingthat formed by the edge 5a of top end 5a bordering outlet hole 6.

Holes 6 and 7 and chamber 4 should be large enough to pass pills A andthe degree of offsetting of the lower borders of said holes should besuch that the barrier 5a is made sufiiciently high (or wide, for examplewhen looking at Fig. l) to prevent pills A which pass into the chamber 4by gravity from passing out outlet hole 6. In addition,'to assure one ata time operation the following conditions should be observed: Inlet hole7 should be small enough so that it can pass but one such pill at atime. Also, the width of the chamber 4 between barrier 5a and inlet hole7 should be small enough to pass but one such pill at a time. Thedistance between barrier 5a and the inlet hole 7 should preferably besuch that at most the entire body of only one pill can lie between thebarrier 5a and inlet hole 7.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, which is particularly adapted tospherical pills of uniform size, these conditions are met. Outlet hole 6is round and inlet hole 7 is also round or U-shaped to the points whereits sides meet the curvature of the neck B' of the bottle B-.-- Bothholes are just big enough to pass easily but one pill at a time. Thechamber 4 is formed by the projection of said holes parallel to eachother as can be seen from the section views shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.This construction limits the width of the chamber between barrier 5a andinlet hole 7 to the Width of the inlet hole 7. The length of the chamberbetween the barrier 5a and the inlet hole .7 is slightly more than thediameter of the pill A.- The barrier 5a is of sufficient height toprevent the pills from passing out hole 6 over a wide range of angles ofinclination of the container'B, and it can be seen from Fig. 5 that itseffective height is about one-half the height of the inlet hole. Asindicated above the outlet hole 6 is about the same size as the inlethole 7 and the construction of the chamber 4 above described limits theheight of the chamber to the height of the top periphery of the outlethole 6 and limits the width of the portion of the chamber above the topof the barrier 5a to the width of the outlet hole. However, it should benoted that while such dimensions for the outlet hole and the portion ofthe chamber above the top of the barrier represent a preferredembodiment, they may be deviated from without sacrificing properoperation, provided they are kept large enough to pass the pills.

In order to dispense pills A from container B, the cap C and liner D arefirst removed in the usual way, and then the container is inverted andinclined at an angle, for example as shown in Fig. 5. To assure theorientation of dispenser E necessary to give proper operation, thecontainer B should be moved to this position through a path in which thearrow W on the top 5 of dispenser E, as shown in Fig. 2, points in adownward direction. The proper angle of inclination of container B willdepend mainly on the height of the barrier 5a relative to the size ofpill A, but as indicated above where height. of the barrier is abouthalf the diameter of pill A the dispenser will operate satisfactorilyover a wide range of angles of'inclination.

1 In the inclined position shown in Fig. 5, for example, the pills A arepermitted to flow under the influence of gravity into feed passage 9,through inlet hole 7 and into chamber 4 where the first pill is stoppedby barrier 5a. Then, while maintained substantially in the orientationshown in Fig. 5, for example, the container B is'preferably moved upwardand then sharply downward in the direction of arrows X and Y,respectively, as shown in Fig. 5. This may be accomplished, for example,by action of the users Wrist. This movement causes the first pill tofollow the path outlined by the dotted arrows Z shown in Fig. 5, bothbecause of the inertia of the first pill and because of the tendency ofgravity to force the second pill to take the place of the first pillthus urging it out of the chamber. This operation, which results indispensing but one pill at a time, may be repeated in order to dispensesuccessive pills individually in a like manner.

Figs. 69 show another embodiment E1 of my dispenser which isparticularly adapted to the type of pill A.1 having a long cylindricalbody with rounded ends. This embodiment is constructed in accordancewith the principles of my invention and comprises a housing 1.1 havingan upper portion 2.1 and a lower portion 3.1. The upper portion 2. 1 isshaped to form a chamber 4.1 between its top part 5.1 and lower portion3.1. The walls of th'e'chamber are respectively its top end 511.1 andits sides 2a.1 and 2b.1 and a middle Wall 20.1 and the neck B of thecontainer B. There is no wall corresponding to bottom end 3a inembodiment'E due to the nature of the construction of chamber 4.1 whichis described in detail below. An outlet hole 6.1 from said chamber isprovided in top part 5.1. At the junction of the lower portion 3.1 andthe upper portion 2.1 these portions are shaped to form with neck 'B' ofcontainer B an inlet hole 7.1 to said chamber. Lower portion 3.1 isshaped to provide a feed portion 8.1 forming with the neck B ofcontainerB a feed passage 9.1 to said inlet hole. Feed passage 9.1 ispreferably of a shape to feed pills one at a time to inlet hole 7.1, forexample a cone-like shape.

As in the case of dispenser E, the normal operating position for thedispenser E1 is one in which the container B is inverted and inclined,for example, as shown in Fig. 9, and the relationship of the variousparts of the dispenser E.1'for proper operation can best be describedwith reference to this position. It can be seen from Fig. 9 that in thisposition the lower border of outlet hole 6.1 formed by inner edge 5a'.1of top end -5a.1 is offset vertically from the lower border of inlethole 7.1 formed by neck B of bottle B so that top end Sal forms abarrier to pills A.1 passing into chamber 41 through inlet hole 7.1. Asso related, the staggered inlet and outlet holes 6.1 and 7.1 and trapchamber 4.1 form a two-cornered zigzag-shaped passage through whichpills A1 may pass, the first corner being that formed by the edge 321 oflower portion 3.1 bordering inlet hole 7.1, and the second corner beingthat formed by the edge 5a.1 of top end Sal bordering outlet hole 6.1.Holes 6.1 and 7.1 have the same shape as holes 6 and 7, respectively.Both holes are big enough to easily pass pills A.1 lengthwise and aresmall enough to pass lengthwise but one such pill at a time. The chamber4.1 is formed by the projection of the inlet hole 7.1 directly towardthe outlet hole 6.1 to form middle wall 20.1 of chamber 4.1 and bycarrying walls 201.1 and 212.1 tangentially from the projection of saidinlet hole to the neck B of the container B leaving top end 511.1 toform a barrier opposite inlet hole 7.1. As a result middle wall 20.1 isinclined so that its end 2c.1 abuts the edge 3'1 of lower portion 3forming the top border of inlet hole 7.1. This is best seen in Figs. 6and 9. As so formed the chamber 4.1 has its width between barrier 5a.].and inlet hole 7.1 limited to that of the inlet hole 7.1. The length ofthe chamber between barrier 5a.1 and inlet hole 7.1 is approximately thesame as the length of the pill Al. The remaining dimensions of thechamber are limited by the outlet hole and the manner of constructionabove described. The height of the chamber is limited by the height ofwall 20.1 and the width of the chamber above the top of barrier Sal islimited by the width of outlet hole 7.1. The barrier 511.1 is ofsufiicient height to prevent pills Al from passing out hole 6.1 over awide range of angles of inclination of container B, and it can be seenfrom Fig. 9 that its e'tfective height is approximately one-half theheight of the inlet hole 7.1. The use of the inclined Wall 20.1 betweenthe tops of the peripheries of holes 6.1 and 7.1 instead of a wall like2c in the embodiment first described has the advantage of tending toavoid the possibility of a long pill A.1 pivoting about its end in thevicinity of barrier 5a.1 to any substantial extent when it is movedrelative to barrier 5a.1 for dispensing from chamber 4.1 through hole6.1. In

such a case the next succeeding pill might become jammed.

under the first pill and block the chamber 4.1.

In order to dispense pills A.1 from the container B by means of theembodiment E1 of my dispenser the container B is inverted and inclinedat an angle, for example as shown in Fig. 9. To assure the orientationof the dispenser E1 necessary to give proper operation, the container Bshould be moved to this position through a path in which the arrow W.1on the top 5.1, as shown in Fig. 7, points in a downward direction.After moving the container to its operating position in this manner thesame procedure is followed as that described with respect to theembodiment shown in Fig. 5.

In practicing my invention it is not necessary that the inlet hole andthe trap chamber be located at the side of the housing so as to bepartially formed by the neck B' of the container 13. As long as therelationship between the inlet hole, trap chamber and outlet hole aremaintained in accordance with the above-described principles of myinvention the passage which they form in accordance with my inventionmay take any position in the housing which is substantially parallel tothe position I have described. Specifically, the inlet hole and chambermay be formed wholly by the housing itself. This is also true of thefeed passage.

It will be apparent that embodiment E1 of my dispenser may be properlydimensioned for use with spherical pills A, and that embodiment E of mydispenser may be properly dimensioned for use with long cylindricalpills Al. However, as to the latter, care should be taken to avoid byproper dimensioning the possibility of jamming which embodiment E1avoids. Also, it will be apparent that other types of pills than the twojust mentioned may be used with my dispenser, and that my dispenser maytake forms other than those represented by embodiments E and El.Although the general relative dimensions referred to in connection withembodiments E and El and pills A and A1 respectively should be adheredto for certain one at a time operation, small deviations from theserelative dimensions may nevertheless result in an operation of thedispenser which is sufiiciently reliable. As one example, I have foundthat ellipsoidal pills having a maximum diameter about the same as thediameter of the spherical pill A may be dispensed satisfactorily with mydispenser E. However, in dimensioning the dispenser relative to theshape and size of the pills to achieve certain one at a time operation,or performance approaching such reliability, the principles of myinvention should be adhered to.

What I claim is:

A special dispensing package for the sanitary storage of pills orsimilar objects and the dispensing of them one at a time, comprisingpills or similar objects and a container therefor having a primaryclosure cap and a dispenser fitted in the neck of said containercomprising a housing providing the side walls, a middle wall, and abarrier Wall of a trap chamber having an inlet hole at one endcommunicating with the interior of the container and an outlet hole atthe opposite end of the chamber covered by the primary closure cap, saidoutlet hole being formed between the inner edge of said barrier wall andsaid middle wall and said inlet hole being small enough to pass only onesuch object at a time and located substantially parallel to the outlethole with its edge on a line substantially perpendicular to said barrierwall and extending from the outer edge thereof and at a distance fromthe barrier wall small enough so that at most the entire body of onlyone such object may lie in said chamber between the barrier wall and theinlet hole and said barrier wall having an efiective width in thedirection of the outlet hole about one-half that of the inlet hole andlarge enough to prevent such an object which passes through the inlethole when the container is inverted and inclined from passing out of thechamber without movement of the barrier wall relative to the object.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,589,936 Habicht Mar. 18, 1952- FOREIGN PATENTS 837,054 France Nov. 3,1938

